Logan mcfaelane



L. MCFARLANE.

MACHINE FOR MOLDING PULP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, I916 1 3@3,932@ Patented May 20, 1919.

STATES ENT orricn LOGANMCFABLANE, or HALTON, NEAR LEEDS, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR MOLDING PIl'LP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 20, 1919.

Application filed November 10, 1916. Serial No. 130,571.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOGAN MCFARLANE, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Rosedene, The Avenue, Halton, nea Leeds, Yorkshire,England, have inventedf new and useful Improvements in Machines forMolding Pulp, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for molding pulp orthe like in which the pulp is freed from excess of moisture and formedinto substantially solid articles by pressure, and more particularly tomachines wherein one end of eachmold is adapted to be closed by areciprocatory piston while the other end of the mold is adapted to beclosed by a stationary plate over which the mold moves until itregisters with an opening in said plate. The improved machine isespecially designed to produce boot or shoe heels or bobbins or reelsfor thread or the like, but may be used I for molding any other suitablearticles.

According to the present invention, the wall of each mold is formed intwo parts, one of which is adapted to be automatically withdrawn fromthe other to release the molded article when the mold moves over theopening in the stationary plate; this movement of the part of the moldbeing effected by means of a cam arranged on the stationary plate.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of theimproved machine, Fig. 2 a sectional elevation of the pulp drum showingone mode of expressing the pulp, Fig. 3 is a plan of the mold carrier,Fig. 4 a plan of the sole plate; Fig. 5 an enlarged cross section of themold, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a cam race for actuating themain plunger of the mold. Fig. 7 is a plan and Fig. 8 aside elevation ofa drum provided with modified means for expressing the pulp. Fig. 9 is aside elevation of a modified arrangement for discharging the articlefrom the mold and Fig. 10 is a front view of part of Fig. 9.

.According to the mode of carrying out the present invention as shown inFigs. 1 to 6, the tank or drum a is rotatably mounted around a centralstationary standard I) on which means are mounted for forcing the ulpthrough one or more ports at or near the bottom of the tank. These meansmay comprise a series of curved plates or propeller blades 0 (see Fig.2) projecting from a boss 0 fixed; to the standard I), the lower end ofsaid boss preferably taking into a recessed portion a of the bottom ofthe tank filled with packing. If desired, a fixed screw or othersuitable means may be employed for forcing the pulp into the said ports.The curved plates, propeller blades or fixed screw effect the forcing ofthe pulp into the ports by acting as stationary guides to the pulp inthe rotating tank or drum. To the bottom of the tank or drum is secureda disk or plate (1 with radial arms, to the outer ends of which aresecured the portways al leading from the openings or. ports of the tank.The disk or plate is formed with a central bush d which surroundsthereduced portion whereby the rotation of the tank is obtained.

The molds proper are secured by means of flanges f to the portways dcarried by the disk or plate 03 and rotate therewith. Each mold consistsof a hollow cylinder 7 open at its lower end which abuts against andmoves over the stationary sole-plate. The sole-plate acts normally toclose the lower end of said cylinder. of the cylinder is also formedwith a recessed portion in which a movable piston f is adapted to slide.This piston is normally held in such a position that it registersexactly with the walls of the cylinder, this being efiected for exampleby means of an annular cam 6 arranged on the sole-plate, against whichcam a roller f on the outer end of the spindle bears. This roller ispressed against the cam by means of a spiral spring f or the like. Anyother suitable means may however be employed for effecting theforward-and backward movements of the piston f which really constitutesa part of the wall of the lower or mold .end of the cylinder.

A main piston f is arranged to oscillate in the cylinder in order tocompress the pulp which has been forced therein from the tank, and alsoinorder to discharge the excess moisture orv water from the pulp. Thepiston-head is secured to a spindle f, which passes through a stufiingbox f at the top of the cylinder and which is provided at The lower endits upper end with rollers f adapted to take into a stationary cam race9, secured to the top frame of the machine. This cam race (see Fig. 6)may be adapted to give any desired number of oscillations to the mainpiston, the earn 6 on the sole-plate (see Fig. 4) being arranged to givethe same number of oscillations to the second piston, these latteroscillations taking place however at different times to the oscillationsof the main piston. The downward stroke of the main piston 7" which doesnot fit tightly in the cylinder but has a slight clearance to allow thewater to escape to the pipe f, compresses the pulp into the requiredshape, the water from the pulp escaping above the main piston, whichwater is discharged on the upper stroke of the piston through the pipe fand thence into an annular trough It arranged outside the tank or drum.The main piston is provided with an upwardly extending gate or"semi-circular sleeve f at the side of the port for supplying pulp tnthe cylinder; this gate or sleeve maintaining the port closed after thepiston has passed same on its downward or compressing stroke and untilthe piston has repassed same on its return stroke. After the pulp hasbeen compressed, the piston f forming part of the wall of the .lower ormold end of the cylinder is withdrawn into the recessed portion of thecylinder, thus releasing the molded article. This withdrawal of thesecond piston is arranged to take place at or about the moment the lowerend of the cylinder passes over each of a series of segmental slots 6formed in the sole-plate through which the molded articles aredischarged. The means for discharging the molded articles preferablycomprise a kicker in connection with each slot, each kicker tapping themolded article upwardly and forwardly so that it can freely fall throughthe slot.

The kicker comprises a double-armed 1ever z', pivot-ally mounted on thesole-plate and arranged with its kicking end at the end of its slotfirst passed over, the other end of the lever being pivotally secured toa pin 2' which projects through a small hole formed in the sole-plateinto the path of the recessed portions of the molding cylinders. Thispin is depressed as each molding cylinder passes and consequentlyoscillates the double-armed lever so that the kicking end thereof tapsthe molded article in an up-.

wardly and forwardly direction. This tap ping action totally releasesthe molded article from the remaining part of the mold so that themolded article falls through the opening 0 in the sole-plate into areceptacle arranged underneath same.

v In the arrangement according to Figs. 9 and 10, instead of forming thelower part of the mold with an open base, a separate sliding base Z isprovided adapted to slide over the upper surface of the sole plate ofthe machine. This sliding base has two op-' posite upwardly extendingsides, at a suitable position in each of which is a slot Z within which"slide pins or studs Z attached to the moving part of the .mold. Whenthe mold opens, the piston Z the front end of which forms the movi partof the mold, travels over the sliding base Z (to the left in F ig. 9)during the first part of its travel leaving the molded article in thefixed part of the mold. On the pinsor studs Z reaching the end of theslots Z they engage the stops Z and the sliding base Z is therebycarried with the piston during the rest of its travel. The sliding baseZ which forms the base of the mold thus remains stationary during thefirst half of the travel of the piston Z. During the rest of the travel,the piston and the sliding base move together, the latter carrying withit the molded article. To insure that the sliding base Z does notcommence its travel prematurely a spring Z (shown compressed) isattached as shown in Fig. 9. On the commencement of the travel of thepiston, this spring tends to retain the sliding base in the positionwherein the bottom of the mold is closed. Attached tothe stationary partof the mold is a spring trigger Z mounted at one end of a shaft Z To theother end of said shaft is keyed a short lever Z which engages a bridgeZ during the opening travel of the piston and drops on to an inclinedplane Z at the end of the travel. At the moment when the short lever Zreaches the end of the bridge Z the trigger Z is released and is causedby the spring Z to discharge the molded article in the direction inwhich the mold is traveling and through an aperture in the sole plate.On the return travel of the piston, the short lever Z is brought back to8), the revolving drum is formed or provided with a plurality of conicalpockets is, say four, preferably inverted and formed each with a port atits apex or lower end. A spindle k rotatably mounted in a. bracket 16arranged'at the upper or month end of each conical pocket dependstherein and is provided with a conical screw 70 which closely fits theconical pocket. This spindle is arranged to be actuated at differentspeeds durin the rotation of the drum. The means for e ecting thispreferably comprises a two speed gear which consists of two pinions kand k of difl'erent size secured to one end of naoaeea each spindle, andtWo intermittent geared plates is and is of different size secured tothe central standard and arranged to alternately mesh with theirrespective pinions. These gear plates may be formed of a flatstar-shape, the number of arms on each plate preferably corresponding tothe number of conical pockets. The gearing is so arranged that the lowspeed carries a supply of pulp toward the port at the bottom of thepocket, while the high or fast speed acts immediately the mold port isopen thus insuring an instantaneous feed of pulp into the mold. Theadvantage of this modified arrangement is that same allows of a positivefeed which is very much quicker and the pulp pressed out contains onlythe minimum moisture. The spaces between the pockets of the drum arecovered at the top by means of pentsheds or inclined guides it whichfacilitate the feeding of the pulp into the pockets and prevent samefrom falling between the latter. Each of the upply pipes for the fourmolds may he provided with a. valve or cut of? is for the purpose ofregulating the supply of material to the molds.

Claims:

1,, A pulp-molding machine, comprising a supporting frame, a pluralityof radially arranged molds on said frame, means for filling each of saidmolds at predetermined intervals, a piston. in each mold for compressingthe material fed thereto, cams arranged to actuate the piston tocompress the material, means for relatively moving the molds and camsand automatic means adjacent to each mold for discharging the finishedarticle therefrom; substantially as described.

2. A ulp-molding machine, comprising a supporting frame, a. pulp supplycarried by Said frame and arranged to be rotated therewith, a pluralityof radially disposed molds connected to the frame and arranged to berotated therewith, means for rotating said frame, a compressing pistonin each mold, stationary cams arranged toactuate the pis tons during therotation of the frame, a fixed bottom for said molds over which themolds travel, said bottom having an opening through which the finishedarticles are discharged, automatic discharging means connected to eachmold, and stationary cams for actuating said discharging means;substantially as described.

3. A pulp-molding machine, comprisinga supporting frame, a pulp supplycarried by said frame and. arranged to be rotated therewith, a.plurality of radially disposed molds connected to theframe and arrangedto be rotated therewith, means for rotating said frame, a compressingpiston in each mold, stationary cams arranged to actuate the pistonsduring the rotation of the frame, afixed bottom. for said molds overwhich the molds travel, said bottom having an opening through which thefinished articles are discharged, automatic discharging means con nectedto each mold, stationary cams for actuating said discharging means, a.kicker on the bottom of said molds, and means arranged to actuate saidkicker when the molds pass over the opening; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOGAN MCFARLANE.

Witnesses:

Lucy COSTIGAN, ETHEL GRIFFIN.

